ISLAMABAD: The National Technology Council (NTC) has taken an important step towards attaining provisional signatory status of the Sydney Accord.
The accord is an international mutual recognition agreement for qualifications in the field of engineering technology, and its members are called signatories.
To apply for signatory status, aspiring countries must have two mentors recognised by the Sydney Accord who help in achieving provisional signatory status.
For this purpose, the NTC is working with Malaysia and New Zealand.
New Zealand has nominated Dr Paul Wilson, managing director Vintage Lane Consulting Limited, NZ, as a mentor while Malaysia has yet to decide.
In this connection, an online meeting was organised, which was attended by Engr Imtiaz H Gilani, chairman NTC, Bret Williams, general manager Global Engineering, New Zealand, Dr Paul Wilson, mentor, Nasir Shah, director general, Quality Assurance Agency, HEC, and Fahd Amin, assistant director NTC.
The NTC chairman thanked Bret Williams and Paul Wilson for agreeing to help the NTC achieve provisional signatory status. He explained that NTC is a subsidiary of HEC with full administrative, financial, and academic powers, with chairman HEC as its controlling authority. This autonomy is a fundamental requirement for signatory status.
The NTC chairman said, “Becoming a signatory to the Sydney Accord will be a crucial step for the future for Pakistani engineering technology graduates and give our skilled manpower global recognition.”
“We at NTC are thankful to all the stakeholders, and with the continued support from HEC, we are hopeful to achieve the signatory status of the Sydney Accord,” he said.
As part of the mentoring exercise, the mentor must physically be involved in one or two accreditation visits conducted by NTC. September 2024 has been tentatively decided as a suitable time for the visit of Paul Wilson.
During the discussion, many queries were raised regarding procedures, delineation of HEC and NTC responsibilities as regulators to avoid duplication, frequency of regulatory visits etc. Imtiaz Gilani, Nasir Shah, and Fahd Amin clarified issues to the complete satisfaction of Bret Williams and Paul Wilson.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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